Syracuse doctors to give free care in Nepal

Dick Blume/The Post Standard Doctors Brett, left, and Seth Greenky, Syracuse area orthopedic surgeons, have set up a medical mission team for joint replacment surgery in Nepal.

Syracuse, NY -- Two of Syracuse’s busiest orthopedic surgeons are organizing a team of volunteers that will travel in November to Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries, to provide free hip and knee replacements to 54 people with severe arthritis and other disabling joint diseases.
A few weeks after returning to Syracuse, the team will do the same thing here for local patients who are uninsured and cannot afford the hospital bill for a joint replacement, which can be as much as $120,000.
Drs. Brett Greenky and Seth Greenky, brothers who head the joint replacement program at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, went to Katmandu, Nepal, last month to screen patients.
While joint replacement is commonplace in the United States, it’s largely unavailable in Nepal, where even the basic medical care is out of reach for most people.
“Because it’s such a poor country, they would never have the opportunity to have this surgery if we didn’t go, “ Seth Greenky said.
The Greenkys intend to conduct the medical missions annually. They recently founded a local branch of Operation Walk (operationwalksyracuse.com), a nonprofit established in 1995 by Dr. Lawrence Dorr, a Los Angeles joint replacement surgeon. On a teaching trip to Russia, Dorr realized one of the best ways to teach doctors in other countries was to demonstrate the surgery. He put together a team of surgeons, nurses, physical therapists and other health care professionals that traveled to Cuba and did 45 joint replacements in five days.
Since then, Dorr has started Operation Walk chapters across the country —Syracuse is the 13th. The nonprofit has provided free joint replacements — hips and knees — to about 6,500 people while teaching doctors overseas.
The Greenkys originally planned to volunteer for an Operation Walk mission organized by the nonprofit’s Boston or Pittsburgh chapters. But after reviewing their resumes, Dorr urged the Greenkys to start a new chapter in Syracuse and begin preparing for a 7,400-mile trip to Nepal.
Dorr seeks surgeons for Operation Walk who do large volumes of joint replacements with good outcomes, said Jeri Ward, a nurse who works with Dorr in Operation Walk in Los Angeles.
The Greenkys estimate they have done more than 15,000 joint replacements during their careers. Seth Greenky did joint replacements on 495 patients, while Brett Greenky did 421 in 2010, according to the most recent data available from the Hospital Executive Council, a Syracuse hospital planning agency. The only other local surgeon who came close to them that year was Dr. Michael Clarke, who operated on 477 patients.
“The Greenkys have a lot of enthusiasm and have done a good job of putting a team together, “ Ward said.
Operation Walk Syracuse has about 50 volunteers who will go on the trip. The team includes other local doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other health care professionals. They will be joined by a surgeon and nurses from Operation Walk in Los Angeles, as well as doctors from Chicago and Baltimore.
Nepalese doctors will observe and assist during surgery.
Kimberley Murray, a nurse and administrator of orthopedic services at St. Joseph’s, is serving as the local chapter’s clinical director. She’s been doing a lot of the planning for the Nepal trip and accompanied the Greenkys on the recent trip to Katmandu.
“It was equally beautiful and horrifying at the same time, “ Murray said. “The Himalayas and the villages are breathtaking and the poverty you see everywhere is really horrific.”
Nepal is one of the world’s poorest and least developed countries, where nearly one of four people live below the poverty line.
The team will do knee replacements on 50 patients and hip replacements on four patients. Nearly all the knee patients will get both knees done simultaneously. Patients here who need both knees replaced usually get them done one at a time, according to Brett Greenky.
“But we are going to be there and it’s now or never, “ he said.
Seth Greenky said the cases will be more challenging than the ones they do here. “They have tolerated their diseases longer and their deformities are greater, “ he said.
The team will bring nearly all its own supplies, from joint implants, antibiotics and bandages to tourniquets, crutches and walkers. About 16,000 pounds of supplies will be shipped to Nepal in advance.
The team will essentially build four operating rooms. Hospital conditions in Nepal are primitive, according to Brett Greenky. “It’s sort of like going into a time warp to the 1940s, “ he said. “It’s not as clean as we would like or as pretty.”
All supplies are being donated. Murray said the team has already filled three storage compartments in Chittenango with supplies.
Operation Walk Syracuse also is trying to raise $250,000 to cover the cost of cargo shipping, travel and lodging for the volunteers.
None of the volunteers will get paid. They must use vacation time.
The trip is being dedicated to the Rev. James M. Moynihan, retired bishop of the Catholic diocese of Syracuse. Moynihan is helping raise money for the trip. Seth Greenky did knee surgery on him in 2008 and 2009.
For one day in early December the team will provide free joint replacement surgery for patients here who are uninsured and cannot afford the surgery. Those operations will be done at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center. Patients will be referred by local primary care doctors. The number of local patients has not been determined yet.
“We’re equally passionate about the people we will operate on here, “ Seth Greenky said. “They are the working poor who don’t have health insurance. Those people should have the most support.”
For the volunteers, the payoff will be the good feeling that comes from helping those in need, Brett Greenky said.
“You go to work everyday, you go home, you take care of your kids, you pay your bills and one year flows into the next, “ he said. “But when you are 75 and thinking of all the great things you did in your life, this will come to mind immediately.”
How to help
People can donate to Operation Walk Syracuse online at operationwalksyracuse.org, or send checks made out to “Operation Walk — Syracuse” to: Operation Walk Syracuse, Attn: Kim Murray, c/o Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists, 4115 Medical Center Drive, Fayetteville, NY 13066.